The American Peace Corps: volunteers for free enterprise [extended]
Originally post on "Reflections on a Revolution"
Like many Americans, I knew very little about the workings of the American Peace Corps. It wasn’t until I met a starry eyed graduate in Bangkok, Thailand who could only wax poetics about helping the poor set up businesses and take out micro-loans, that I felt I needed to know more.
Quote:
"The Peace Corps was never intended to be blindly altruistic. Rather, it was designed to be an interpersonal demonstration of the fruits of democracy and free enterprise."
-The Heritage Foundation
On the path to a service economy made In post-China™ - Ashok Kumar and Alex Gawenda
Article on the diminishing growth both in the East and the West and the running out of spatial fixes.
“Those jobs are gone and they’re not coming back” snapped Apple Ceo Steve Jobs. The scene was a 2011 dinner held at the home of venture capitalist John Doerr in Woodside, California, a short drive south of San Francisco.
Workers' struggles in East Asia (July 2012)
Submitted by Spartacus on Aug 7 2012 14:59
Summary and links to news stories of workers' struggles around East Asia during July 2012 and related resources. The most important stories appear on my Twitter feed as soon as I find them: http://twitter.com/spartacusnews.
This month there has been news from Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Once more I've included quite a few links in Indonesian and Chinese - if you can't read those languages, I recommend getting a browser plug-in such as Google Translate to get an idea of what they're about.
Return to work at Ashulia
Submitted by Red Marriott on Jun 25 2012 20:44
Garment workers resume work with issues unresolved...
Thursday 21st June 2012, Ashulia, Dhaka; after a week of intense struggles for higher wages, followed by a 4-day lockout of half a million workers (see earlier article[1]), 350 factories in the industrial zone come to life again.
Resistance is high; garment workers force shutdown in 350 factories
Submitted by Red Marriott on Jun 18 2012 17:12
The resurgence of unrest in the Bangladeshi garment sector continues with over 500,000 workers now locked out in Ashulia...
The main costs of living for garment workers are food and rent; both are rising much faster than wages. The overall inflation level is around 10%. So workers are demanding pay increases of up to 50% and are calling for rent controls to be implemented.
Return of the repressed; new days of rage for garment workers - and the disappeared...
Submitted by Red Marriott on May 27 2012 16:52
After a long period of relative quiet, workers are again taking mass action in the Bangladeshi garment industry. Also; some comments on the recent wave of political 'disappearances'.
Since the deployment of the new Industrial Police Force (IPF) in 2010 struggles had been much reduced by the IP's innovative tactics(1). But recent events in Dhaka's industrial suburb of Ashulia and elsewhere suggest that workers' anger, solidarity, willingness to struggle and sheer weight of numbers can't be contained indefinitely.
Workers' struggles in East Asia (April 2012)
Submitted by Spartacus on May 3 2012 12:04
Summary and links to news stories of workers' struggles around East Asia during April 2012 and related resources. The most important stories appear on my Twitter feed as soon as I find them: http://twitter.com/spartacusnews.
This month there has been news from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The most important stories:
-WSWS Asia 7: Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific (link 1)
Non-Western Anarchisms: Rethinking the global context
Written by Jason Adams as an attempt to reconceptualize the history and theory of first-wave anarchism on the global level, and to reconsider its relevance to the continuing anarchist project.
The predictable rise of a red bourgeoisie: the end of a mythical Nepalese Maoist 'revolution'
Submitted by Red Marriott on Feb 24 2012 22:17
Reflections on the recent evolution of Maoism in Nepal.
Disarmament, the Party elite rob the rank'n'file, more strike bans, luxury mansions etc...
Workers' struggles in East Asia (July 2011)
Submitted by Spartacus on Aug 4 2011 13:51
Summary and links to news stories of workers' struggles around East Asia during July 2011 and related resources. The most important stories appear on my Twitter feed as soon as I find them: http://twitter.com/spartacusnews. There is also this news forum thread for China.
This month there has been news from Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The most important stories:
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